Security measures allow the public to continue to live normally in an increasingly dangerous world. Because of the increasing dangers, security precautions are becoming standard aspects of modern life. The cost to the public for increased security includes the inconvenience of time delays, but the time costs for security measures are not readily apparent. Therefore, there exists a current need for a model to measure the level of this inconvenience.
In assessing the desirability of new or altered security measures, policy makers generally balance greater security with increases in inconvenience. However, it is often difficult for policy makers to assess the effectiveness of new security measures and the inconvenience caused by additional security measures. Furthermore, the inconvenience costs of additional security measures may be partially mitigated by factors that are generally difficult to evaluate, such as an improved checkpoint design or increasing the number of security devices and security employees. Thus, there is a further need for a robust model of security checkpoints that allows policy makers to assess new security measures and new configurations of existing security measures.